The Union – The Union

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The Union are the new project from Thunder lead guitarist Luke Morley and former Winterville front-man Pete Shoulder and has been pre-faced and supported by frequent touring. With Luke Morley’s writing, coming so soon after the retirement of Thunder, it’s almost inevitable that some of the tracks will have a Thunder feel to them, and that is certainly the case. Grooving rocker and first single Watch The River Flow really sounds like it was written for Danny Bowes, perhaps for what was to be the next Thunder record, and others like , acoustic-led Amazon and Easy Street have that classic Morley style and vocal melodies which are easy to imagine coming from the mouth of Bowes. But The Union have successfully avoided falling completely into that trap, with several songs which genuinly have their own sound. Ballad Saviour, acoustic blues number Holy Roller and swinging Black Monday all show a duo finding their own identity. It’s a mature album, but there are a few too many slow moments, thoughtful though they are, where for a debut an overall feeling of fun-time rock ‘n’ roll should have been the order of the day. When it comes down to it though, the disc is packed with high-calibre songs, and that’s exactly what fans of Morley and Shoulder have come to expect.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2010, Albums, Quick.Play Reviews, Rock, The Union